11/26/2013 02:05 GMT
by Serge Daniel
BAMAKO, November 26, 2013 (AFP) - The United States and EU on Monday hailed the largely peaceful parliamentary elections in Mali with Washington urging the country to build on its democratic progress.
Sunday's polls marked Mali's latest steps to recovery after the west African nation was plunged into chaos by a military coup in March last year, and finalised a process begun with the election of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August.
But voters were prevented from taking part by Tuareg separatist protesters in a northeastern town of around 14,000 people, while there were demonstrations in the northern rebel stronghold of Kidal and reports of ballot box thefts elsewhere.
"Mali has taken an important step forward by holding the first round of legislative elections," said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"These elections speak volumes about the resilience of Mali's democratic tradition and the progress it has made over the past two years," he stressed.
"We call on Mali's new government to build on these efforts in preparing for an anticipated second round of legislative elections on December 15, and we encourage the Malian people's peaceful and active participation in those polls," he added.
Some 6.5 million Malians were eligible to vote for a new national assembly, with more than 1,000 candidates running for the 147 seats -- but turnout initially looked weak across the country and there were reports of thefts of ballot boxes in the north.
The Citizen's Electoral Observation Deck, a monitoring programme put together by charities which deployed 3,700 observers, also said the vote went smoothly, but noted turnout could be "less than 30 percent".
Earlier Monday the European Union said Mali's parliamentary polls had confounded fears over possible Islamist violence and were "another success" despite low-level protests in the north and a poor turnout.
Louis Michel, head of the bloc's election observation mission, paid tribute to "the success of the organisation of elections, particularly with regard to the logistical, material and human conditions that prevailed during voting operations".
Michel said the election "took place peacefully, despite some small-scale incidents in the north which are not likely to jeopardise the integrity of the vote".
Meanwhile the Mali justice ministry said in statement that troublemakers would be "sought and punished throughout the national territory".
One hundred EU observers visited 789 out of 17,983 polling stations, reporting that voting went well in almost all of them.
This was despite fears that Al-Qaeda-linked militants driven from the towns and cities of northern Mali by a French-led military operation launched in January would use the election to launch violent reprisals.
The ECOWAS bloc of 15 west African nations also noted a poor turnout, saying around a tenth of voters had cast their ballots by midday at two polling stations visited by observers in Bamako and that the rate had risen to just 16.5 percent by the close in another.
Amos Sawyer, the head of ECOWAS's election observation mission, said however that Malians had displayed "orderly conduct" throughout the country.
"The electoral process... has been orderly, security and the general atmosphere is fine and the preparation has been very good," he said.
The ruling Rally for Mali (RPM) party has vowed to deliver "a comfortable majority" to smoothe the way for the reforms Keita plans to put in place to rebuild Mali's stagnant economy and soothe simmering ethnic tensions in the north.
If results show no party is able to form a government, the second round vote will be held on December 15
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